NFL Draft Draft Buzz: April 24

Ed Thompson

04/24/2008

Scout.com's Ed Thompson has news on several interesting prospects, including a hard-hitting safety the Colts interviewed at the NFL Combine. Find out more about this player and two other prospects inside!

The latest buzz on safety Jamie Silva is that the Jets,
Giants, Jaguars, Packers, Panthers, Broncos, Texans and Chargers have
been showing the most interest in adding the hard-hitting player to their roster
during this weekend's draft. While some criticism has been lobbed his way for
his 40-time, there's no denying that he's a playmaker, as evidenced by his eight
interceptions and team-leading 125 tackles.

"I feel like I move faster on the field when I'm
running after somebody," Silva told Scout.com. "I feel
like I can get from point A to point B quickly, and when there's a guy standing
in the way trying to block me I feel like I can get around him faster than other
guys can. The 40 is important for many reasons, but for other reasons I feel
it's not important. It doesn't give a clear showing of how good of a football
player someone is, and teams know that."

Silva's solid pro day performance was muddled a bit by what
appears to have been an error in the recording of his short shuttle time. A
scout who was in charge of accumulating the various shuttle times reported
Silva's time as 4.50 to the teams in attendance during Boston College's Pro Day.
But since Silva had repeatedly run the drill in the 3.9-second to 4.0-second
range, a look at the master footage from the workouts appears to indicate that
Silva ran the drill closer to the 3.9-second range. According to one league
source, Boston College head coach Jeff Jagodzinski hand-timed Silva at 3.88
seconds. A memo and a copy of the video of his short shuttle was sent to all 32
NFL teams mentioning the apparent discrepancy. With a 3.90 short shuttle time,
Silva would have been credited with one of the top short shuttles out of all
draft prospects this year.

The standout safety had formal interviews at the NFL Scouting Combine with the Seattle
Seahawks and the Indianapolis Colts, so they could be two more teams
in the mix for his services this weekend.

"With the Seahawks, there was a lot of personnel in the room and I felt
like I had a good meeting with them. We talked a little bit about me personally
and about football and my outlook on the game," he said. "With the
Colts, I met with the Director of Personnel and we had a good conversation. He
was just sort of feeling me out and seeing what kind of guy I was."

Heading into draft weekend, versatile linebacker Larry Grant has been drawing
the strongest interest from the Giants, Rams, 49ers, Chiefs and Broncos.
But at Ohio State's Pro Day, Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis and other
NFL team officials took note of his impressive workout.

Ohio State's Larry Grant blocks a punt.AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast

Coach (Marvin) Lewis seemed surprised and was happy with my
performance. He didn't expect to see what he saw from me," Grant told Scout.com.
"They were impressed by my athleticism, my ability to move, my
footwork and my smooth running."

In addition to being able to play all three linebacker
positions, Grant is a standout performer on special teams and blocked two kicks
during his two seasons at Ohio State. Among other teams that seemed to be
intrigued by his skills at his pro day were the Green Bay Packers, Carolina Panthers, New York Jets and the Seattle Seahawks.

"Being a linebacker, the pro day at Ohio State is
always a big event," Grant said. "We have some elite athletes and
high-caliber pro athletes. Basically any coach that wants to put you through
drills will come through and it's fifteen minutes straight of working out. You
have to have your wind right, you have to be able to play with good technique
and look smooth yet play fast."

Landing a job as a long snapper in the NFL is isn't easy since there are usually
only three or four vacancies league-wide in a single year. But Ohio University's
Ryan Senser hopes to get a chance in an NFL training camp this summer.

Ryan's uncle, Joe Senser, who played tight end for the
Minnesota Vikings, has provided some helpful advice along the way, recommending
player agent Chris Murray as an individual who could help Ryan professionally
and personally. Joe owns four restaurants in the Minneapolis, Minnesota area and
is the father of four daughters.

Senser believes that in addition to his strong skill set
and consistency, one aspect of his approach to the position will help him get
noticed out of the group of players who are competing for one of the rare
training camp spots as a long snapper.

"I think one of the things that is a good key point for me is that right
before I started snapping here at OU, my coaches came to me about a week before
my first game as a collegiate snapper and talked with me about snapping with my
head up as opposed to down between my legs. I think it's worked out really well
for me because it allows you to see who's coming at you so you can do better
with the blocking aspect of the punt."

A member of the Pro Football Writers of America and the Football Writers Association of America, Ed Thompson's player interviews and NFL features
are published across the Scout.com network and at FOXSports.com. You can contact him by email
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